* S.Korean stocks set for worst day in a week
* Singapore's Oct exports rise 17.9%, beat forecast
* Indonesia, Philippine c.bank policy reviews in focus
By Arundhati Dutta
Nov 17 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian currencies fell on
Wednesday as the dollar traded close to a 16-month peak and U.S.
Treasury yields jumped, with the South Korean won bearing the
brunt of losses after a recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the
country.
The won weakened by as much as 0.5%, followed by
the Indonesian rupiah and the Malaysian ringgit
shedding 0.3% each.
A run of strong economic data in the U.S., including a surge
in October retail sales, has kept the dollar hovering close to a
1-1/2-year peak for the past few days.
"Regional currencies are likely affected by the rising U.S.
Treasury yields as inflation concerns as well as strong U.S data
raised expectations for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to quicken
monetary policy normalization," said Fiona Lim, an FX strategist
with Maybank.
If the Fed starts hiking rates too soon, it will be at odds
with most Asian central banks to stand pat on policy to help
their economies recover from the pandemic-driven slump.
U.S. bond yields rose overnight ahead of the U.S. Treasury's
sale of 20-year paper later in the day. They've been on an
upswing since data showed last Wednesday that U.S. consumer
prices for October posted their biggest gain in more than three
decades.
The region's stock markets were mixed, with South Korean
stocks falling 1%, on track for their worst day in a
week after the country reported 3,187 new infections for
Tuesday, the second-highest since the pandemic began.
Singaporean stocks shed 0.4%, even as the
city-state's October non-oil domestic exports (NODX) jumped
17.9% from a year earlier, beating forecasts.
"The Singapore Index may be seeing some near-term
distribution after the catalysts from economic reopening and
earnings season have been priced," Jun Rong Yeap, a market
strategist at IG, wrote in a note.
Japanese shares reversed early gains on concerns
over rising costs and a weaker yen.
On the upside, shares in Thailand, Indonesia
and Taiwan gained between 0.2% to 0.3%.
Investors will now turn their focus to policy reviews by the
Indonesian and Philippine central banks on Thursday. Both are
expected to hold interest rates, according to Reuters polls.
HIGHLIGHTS:
**Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are down 0.5 basis
points at 6.192%
**Singapore's 10-year benchmark yield is up 0.5 basis points
at 1.8%
**Mapletree Logistics Trust and Wilmar
International are top losers on the Singapore
benchmark
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0409 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCK STOCK
DAILY YTD % X S S YTD
% DAILY %
%
Japan -0.05 -10.1 <.N2 -0.42 8.19
3 25>
China <CNY=CFX +0.05 +2.19 <.SS 0.21 1.62
S> EC>
India +0.00 -1.76 <.NS -0.20 28.47
EI>
Indones -0.28 -1.54 <.JK 0.20 11.47
ia SE>
Malaysi -0.28 -3.74 <.KL -0.11 -6.51
a SE>
Philipp +0.04 -4.74 <.PS -0.11 3.08
ines I>
S.Korea <KRW=KFT -0.46 -8.37 <.KS -0.97 3.29
C> 11>
Singapo -0.17 -2.81 <.ST -0.32 13.52
re I>
Taiwan -0.13 +2.36 <.TW 0.33 20.49
II>
Thailan -0.34 -8.71 <.SE 0.15 13.60
d TI>
(Reporting by Arundhati Dutta in Bengaluru
Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
]
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